Traditionally, along track scanning is a remote sensing technology for obtaining images with spectroscopic sensors. Typically, spectroscopic sensors are used for along track scanning, however, photographic sensors operating to capture images in the visible light spectrum are not used, because the object being imaged must be focused through a lens onto the image sensor. The along track scanners are typically used for passive remote sensing from space and for various spectral analysis, for example, on production lines with near-infrared spectroscopy used to identify properties of objects. Moreover, along track scanners may also be used for astronomical spectroscopy, for agriculture for determining the quality of forages, grains, and other products, for remote monitoring or investigation of plants and soils where data is collected from instruments on airplanes or satellites to assess ground cover and soil chemistry, for material science to determine the optical characteristics of nanoparticles, and for medical uses to assess oxygenation and microvascular function in the brain and tissues.
In orbital along track sensors, photographic sensors are not typically used to image different areas of the surface of the Earth because of the large amount of geometric distortion caused by the imaging characteristics of all curved lenses. These lens and imaging sensor combinations are not typically used in along track sensors. Any geometric distortion creates an inaccurate representation of the object being imaged. Due to the aforementioned limitations with wide field of view lenses, photo imaging sensors have not been able to accurately collect images using along track imaging.